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Subject: 
Re: Why these news groups were created
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.admin.nntp
Date: 
Wed, 22 Sep 2004 19:24:34 GMT
Viewed: 
7146 times
  
In lugnet.admin.nntp, David Eaton wrote:
   In lugnet.admin.nntp, John Neal wrote:
   Maybe the purpose of LUGNET shouldn’t be to create a community, but rather be a resource center for all things pertaining to LEGO. Boards are useful for communication among AFOLs, and many AFOLs have come to know each other as a result of LUGNET, but I think the goal of creating a LUGNET community might be questionable.

I disagree. To attempt NOT to create a community, you can’t really have post-to-able boards, but instead something more like MOCpages or BrickShelf where there’s room to post Lego creations, but no back-and-forth communication. Hence, asking questions becomes up to the individuals interested in the answers, and it’s probably going to continue in email or some other venue. And if it’s done through email, lots of questions would go unanswered, lots of answers would be repeated, and people who never thought of the questions would never know their answers.

But you are talking about LEGO related questions, not personal questions. I have no problem with LUGNET boards that very specifically relate to LEGO. It’s all of the personal stuff that I am questioning.

   On top of that, without building a community you’d be a lot less likely to start up LUG’s and LTC’s. They’ve been mostly founded because people met in an online community, realized they were from the same area, and decided to get together-- not because they went around emailing random Lego fans in the hopes of finding someone near them.

But they didn’t get together because they got to “know” each other first; merely that they were able to connect.

  
   Well, therein lies the rub. Because very quickly, these groups begin to relate to each other in terms of their specific nonLEGO interests, and the thing that brought them together (LEGO) is forgotten.

Now that’s a little unlikely :)

You might be misunderstanding my point. Go through the newly created subgroups in .people and see how many posts stray OT.
  
   LUGNET quickly becomes just another adult/teen/whatever board that has nothing to do with LEGO, even if the participants are AFOLs.

I think that’s absolutely fine-- even encouraged. There’s a reason that every other board does that; it’s because it’s what people like. They like being part of a community. They like recognizing names, being a recognized name themselves, and having people they feel like they know and are safe talking with.

I agree that relating to AFOLs off-topic is fun and I do it. I just question that that is necessarily good for LUGNET as a whole as it relates to the world community outside of LUGNET.

  
   Many if not most of the .people hierarchy discussions quickly spin off-topic, if they even started there at all. I think it is a mistake not to put .people in off-topic, because our lives (for most of us:-), though we may be AFOLs, are not on-topic for LEGO.

That’s actually something I’d agree with. lugnet.people could really fit within lugnet.off-topic perfectly well. I don’t think I mind it being in its own little area, since the root “.people” isn’t a sub-branch of a lego-related area like .general.

  
   Divorced people have a home in lugnet.people.support (and perhaps lugnet.people.singles). It might be reasonable at some point in the future to provide sub-groups of .support (or even .singles). Religion is a much trickier one. Religion groups might well be appropriate, but how do you decide which one’s to create?

ISN”T THAT THE WHOLE POINT? If you start splintering off sub-groups, it will never end! Now is the time to pause and consider the ramifications of having done this. It is like a pandora’s box, and I don’t see it as having any benefit to the AFOL community as a whole (not to mention the youth).

I still don’t see the problem. As the community grows, the need for smaller sub-communities increases. I’d say create subgroups as they’re needed or requested (in earnest). Religious groups getting created? Sure! But I’d only create ones that get asked for. .people.religion.christian.catholics, people.religion.christian.protestant, .people.religion.jewish, .people.religion.atheist I could see getting used. Probably even .people.religion.islam. But is .people.religion.christian.amish necessary? I’d doubt it. Gaist? Probably not. Bhuddhist? Hindu? Maybe. But worst comes to worst if people want the group, they can ask for it, and if there’s enough interest, it should get created. At least, that’s my take.

I think we might be on the same page. I would feel much more comfortable if .people were placed off-topic, and it was only accessible by members over 18 (all of OT, that is). I enjoy and have participated in OT groups, but I am now believing that these groups can have a deleterious effect on LUGNET, especially among kids coming to LUGNET and to LUGNET’s reputation as being “kid-friendly”.

JOHN



Message has 4 Replies:
  Re: Why these news groups were created
 
(...) Absolutely. The folks outside of my local LUG that I associate the most with are all friendships developed in .debate. I also wanted to add a comment to those who might wonder what does religion have to do with Lugnet: My previous post in this (...) (20 years ago, 22-Sep-04, to lugnet.admin.nntp)
  Re: Why these news groups were created
 
(...) Yep! Any way you slice it, once you let people start talking to each other in a back-and-forth manner, you're going to get community development. If you let people ask Lego-related questions and give Lego-related answers, I guarantee you that (...) (20 years ago, 22-Sep-04, to lugnet.admin.nntp)
  Re: Why these news groups were created
 
In lugnet.admin.nntp, John Neal wrote: SNIP (...) Well put! (20 years ago, 22-Sep-04, to lugnet.admin.nntp, FTX)
  Re: Why these news groups were created
 
(...) I know that this is a small part of your argument but I fail to see the relevance of blocking parts of Lugnet to under 18 year olds. people under 18 can be 'Lavender' (I can't remember the acronym off the top my head!) Tim (20 years ago, 23-Sep-04, to lugnet.admin.nntp, FTX)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Why these news groups were created
 
(...) I disagree. To attempt NOT to create a community, you can't really have post-to-able boards, but instead something more like MOCpages or BrickShelf where there's room to post Lego creations, but no back-and-forth communication. Hence, asking (...) (20 years ago, 22-Sep-04, to lugnet.admin.nntp)

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